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Lot Essay
The present picture was published as an early work of Sebastiano Conca by Jesús Urrea Fernández in his repertory of Italian 18th century painting in Spain of 1977. Urrea Fernández noticed 'recuerdos solimenescos' and 'una actitud decidamente romana en la postura elegantísima de la Virgen'. But in fact the closest comparisons can be made with the work of Paolo de Matteis. The type of the Virgin is close to that in Matteis' Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (see fig. 1; Naples, Private collection; cf. N. Spinosa, Pittura napoletana del Settecento dal Barocco al Rococò, Naples, 1986, p. 138, no. 143; p. 265, fig. 162). Professor Spinosa dates that work to de Matteis' second Roman period (1723-26), when the painter worked for Cardinal de Polignac, and it is likely that the present picture was executed during the same period. This position is reinforced by the close connections with other late works by de Matteis, such as the Mourning of Christ, the Saint Jerome, the Saint Agnes and the Holy family with the Child Saint John the Baptist, all documented in 1720 and executed for the church of San Sebastiano in Guardia Sanframondi [cf. S. Marinelli, in Paolo de Matteis e Domenico Antonio Vaccaro in San Sebastiano di Guardia Sanframondi, San Nicola la Strada (Caserta), without year of publication but after 1989, pp. 67-75].
Paolo de Matteis was one of the most successful painters active in Rome and Naples between the last two decades of the Seicento and the first three decades of the Settecento. After studying in Rome with Giovanni Maria Morandi, he moved to Naples in 1683 to work for the new Spanish viceroy, the Marquis del Carpio. There, he became one of the principal pupils of Luca Giordano. Despite moving to Naples he continued to work for Roman patrons throughout his career; the breadth of his appeal and success is made apparent by the invitation to Paris extended to Matteis by the Marquis d'Estrées, where Matteis stayed between 1702 and 1705.
In his late works de Matteis combined his Neapolitan experience with an academic attitude typical of the Roman Arcadia, and the present picture reflects both of these influences. It will be included as a fully autograph work by de Matteis in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the painter, to be published by Riccardo Lattuada and Giuseppe Napoletano. We are also grateful to Professor Nicola Spinosa for confirming the attribution.
Paolo de Matteis was one of the most successful painters active in Rome and Naples between the last two decades of the Seicento and the first three decades of the Settecento. After studying in Rome with Giovanni Maria Morandi, he moved to Naples in 1683 to work for the new Spanish viceroy, the Marquis del Carpio. There, he became one of the principal pupils of Luca Giordano. Despite moving to Naples he continued to work for Roman patrons throughout his career; the breadth of his appeal and success is made apparent by the invitation to Paris extended to Matteis by the Marquis d'Estrées, where Matteis stayed between 1702 and 1705.
In his late works de Matteis combined his Neapolitan experience with an academic attitude typical of the Roman Arcadia, and the present picture reflects both of these influences. It will be included as a fully autograph work by de Matteis in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the painter, to be published by Riccardo Lattuada and Giuseppe Napoletano. We are also grateful to Professor Nicola Spinosa for confirming the attribution.